Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism for controlling communications conducted in multiple frequency bands. In particular, the present invention is directed to apparatuses, methods and a computer program product providing a mechanism for controlling interference caused by IMD so that communications conducted for example in an in-device co-existence scenario suffer less interferences from each other.
Related Background Art
Prior art which is related to this technical field can e.g. be found in technical specifications according to 3GPP TR 36.816 (e.g. version 11.2.0).
The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specification apply:    BS: base station    BT: Bluetooth    BW: bandwidth    CA: carrier aggregation    CC: component carrier    CE: control element    CPU: central processing unit    DL: downlink    DRX: discontinuous reception    eNB: evolved node B    FDM: frequency division multiplex    GNSS: global navigation satellite system    GPS: global positioning system    H3: 3rd order harmonic distortion    IDC: in-device co-existence    IE: information element    IMD: intermodulation distortion    IP: Internet protocol    ISM: industrial, scientific, medical    LTE: Long Term Evolution    LTE-A: LTE Advanced    MAC: medium access control    MCS: modulation and coding scheme    Pcell: primary cell    PDU: protocol data unit    P-MPR: power management power reduction    PRB: physical resource block    PSD: power spectral density    RAT: radio access technology    RB: resource block    RF: radio frequency    RX: receiver    Scell: secondary cell    STA: station    TDM: time division multiplex    TX: transmission, transmitter    UE: user equipment    UL: uplink    VoIP: voice over IP    WiFi: wireless fidelity    WLAN: wireless local access network
In the last years, an increasing extension of communication networks, e.g. of wire based communication networks, such as the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), DSL, or wireless communication networks, such as the cdma2000 (code division multiple access) system, cellular 3rd generation (3G) communication networks like the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), enhanced communication networks based e.g. on LTE, cellular 2nd generation (2G) communication networks like the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), the General Packet Radio System (GPRS), the Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolutions (EDGE), or other wireless communication system, such as the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Bluetooth or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), took place all over the world. Various organizations, such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the WiMAX Forum and the like are working on standards for telecommunication network and access environments.
Generally, for properly establishing and handling a communication connection between communication elements such as a UE and another communication element or UE, a database, a server, etc., one or more intermediate network elements such as communication network control elements, access nodes, support nodes or service nodes are involved which may belong to different communication networks.
In order to allow users to access to various networks and services ubiquitously, an increasing number of UEs are equipped with multiple radio transceivers. For example, a UE may be equipped with LTE, WiFi, and Bluetooth transceivers, as well as GNSS/GPS receivers, and the like.
However, such a configuration may result in more complicated interference situations due to coexistence interference between those collocated (radio) transceivers. For example, due to extreme proximity of multiple radio transceivers within the same UE, the transmit power of one transmitter may be much higher than the received power level of another receiver.
Conventionally, it is tried by using filter technologies and sufficient frequency separation to avoid significant interference resulting from a transmit signal. However, for some coexistence scenarios, e.g. different radio technologies within the same UE operating on adjacent frequencies, current state-of-the-art filter technology might not provide sufficient rejection. Therefore, solving the interference problem by single generic RF design may not always be possible so that alternative methods have to be considered.